Review Corner: He's No Angel

I'm sorry there was no "Review Corner" last week. Movie night was superseded by an impromptu birthday party and Buffy festival. Sugarchuck and family, whom we turned on to Buff, and a couple that they had enlightened got together for a viewing of the favorite episodes and some hyper intelligent geek chatter with overly educated people discussing favorite episodes, characters, demons, songs, &c. What a great night! We were introduced as "grand-sires."

Neither Buffy nor Angel is intrinsically "conservative" and fans span the political spectrum. But a lot of conservatives and libertarians like it: me, Jonathan Last, Andrew Stuttaford, Jonah Goldberg, and Virginia Postrel come to mind. I think one of the things conservatives appreciate is the idea of consequences. Actions have repercussions; redemption is difficult and may not even be possible.

Being a Buffy fan, I watch its actors in other vehicles and am usually disappointed. Alyson Hannigan is in some awful sitcom I see advertised during football games, David Boreanaz's "Bones" is okay but not spectacular. Of course, when it is a Joss Whedon or Tim Minear production this doesn't count. Nathan Fillion (Caleb) and Gina Torres (Jasmine) were great on Firefly and Adam Baldwin (Marcus Hamilton) rocked on Firefly and The Inside. IMDB notes that Baldwin is on an episode of "Bones" I will have to look for that.

[Here comes that tortured segue, hang on!] I rented "These Girls" starring Boreanaz and Caroline Dhavernas (from Tim Minear's "Wonderfalls"). I cannot complain about "Hollywood Values" as this film is Canadian, but its values were suspect at best. I gathered it was not "Old Yeller" when I read the synopsis: "During their summer between high school and college, three girls blackmail a slightly older hunk into having sex with them."

Boreanaz plays Keith Clark, hunky small-town husband (one has to be somewhat hunky to require blackmail for a tryst with Caroline Dhavernas). We meet his wife late in the film. She's nice and they have a two tear old, whom the character cares for. Clark grows pot, deals to the young folk of the town, plays poker, and rides with some moderately violent biker types. His lothario career starts willingly with the 19 year old babysitter Glory (Amanda Walsh). When her friends discover her extra-sit-ular activities, they decide that they must also avail themselves of this resource. When he resists, the blackmail card is played.

Kiera St. George (Dhavernas) could be a prequel for her Jaye Tyler character on Wonderfalls -- the slacker before she is a slacker with a degree. The film has an independent feel and the music is original sounding garage-band-rock or organic acoustic guitar. The plot is not cookie-cutter, though the hyper-sexed fundamentalist Adventist Lisa (Holly Lewis) was a little trite.

In the end, though, I cannot get past the fact that there are no consequences. [SPOILER ALERT] Yeah, Clark gets beat up but it is a tangential consequence. One girl gets pregnant but marries a nice guy and lives happily ever after. And everybody continues their life with this no more than a fantastic story of summer romance. No harm, no foul. I don't need tongues of fire smiting the philanderers or anything. But real life has consequences and I could not get past their absence in this film.

jk gives it three stars. jk's wife, a big fan of both Boreanaz and Dhavernas, "HATED IT!"

Posted by jk at June 3, 2006 1:03 PM